Cadence monitoring or heart rate?

Rulebritania

I have a garmin 800 and whilst I am limited to the amount of time I can spend on a ride (medical). I would like to make the most of the time as it stands I average 17mile rides and occasionally upto 30miles. Which should I get if any to get more out of what I can do. :?:

16mm

HR is a fair measure of effort. Cadence on it's own is not really a measure of much.

snowjho

I find the cadence sensor more useful than the HRM. Its already on the bike so dont have to remeber to put it on. Use to maintain steady 90rpm then do intervals pushing to 100+rpm. Its great on a turbo trainer watching sufferfest

elderone

Hr monitor is good for training in zones or keeping an eye on your effort up hills for example.I use mine to pace myself on climbs and its a very useful tool.

IanRCarter

Heart rate monitor. You can do more specific training with it by targeting HR zones. If you're not sure about HR zones, I'd suggest reading up on them.

Cadence, as 16mm said, is not really a measure of anything in terms of performance. You want to be aiming for a certain cadence to be more efficient (high cadence in low gear isn't very efficient) or to prevent any injury or pains (low cadence in a high gear can cause knee pain etc.). However, it's not a measure of your performance as you could be in your lowest or your highest gear riding at the same cadence - obviously it's a lot easier in the lower gear.

I have both monitors. In all honesty I don't really look into cadence too much, once you have the monitor and can see what you're cadence is you don't need to keep looking at it. I'll probably look at my average cadence on Connect after the ride but that's about it.

16mm

snowjho wrote:

I find the cadence sensor more useful than the HRM. Its already on the bike so dont have to remeber to put it on. Use to maintain steady 90rpm then do intervals pushing to 100+rpm. Its great on a turbo trainer watching sufferfest

Pedalling speed intervals? Most youth around us pedal their mountain bikes at 120rpm and 7mph. Maybe they're doing ghetto intervals?

Without an measure of effort cadence is not much use. With power, cadence can tell you lots.

If you get HR you'll be able to upload your training online, and the HR will give you a fair indicator of your effort, allowing you to see if you're slacking, so making the most of your time.

sloppyschleckonds

Rulebritania wrote:

Which should I get if any to get more out of what I can do. :?:

May be you need to be more specific about what you want to achieve. If you just enjoy getting out then don't bother with either.

hulla the hulla

I've ditched the cadence monitor on both bikes, I have riden enough over the years to know what feels right in differing conditions and what my body likes / needs. Everyone is different though and I know it's important to some as part of their training when combined with other data. Out of HR / CAD I'd say go with HR as being more useful.

markp80

Rulebritania wrote:

I have a garmin 800

Do you not already have cadence as part of your speed sensor? How is your 800 currently set up?

drlodge

If you are a noob then cadence, if more proficient then HR monitor.

I used to monitor by cadence quite a lot, now I hardly look at it and the HR monitor is more useful.

Rulebritania

I used to run and over the years with the help of Army PTI's (beast masters) I knew how to gauge my effort and work put in.
On a road bike it takes me about 8 miles to get my second wind before feeling I can push on without being breathless. I tend to go to the max and have no way of actually knowing really how to use the bike as a fitness tool. I want to also keep enjoying the ride. I love putting in effort but tend to bonk on climbs and soon I'm on the top ring struggling.
My garmin has no attachments and set to display distance and speed my virtual partner is set to 14mph but beat him usually over the course of the ride.

BrandonA

I always ride to heart rate.

Because of the varying terrain and wind I can't see that Cadence would be a good measure on an outdoor ride.

I know my max heart rate and when climbing hills I ensure that it does not rise too quickly. When riding on the flat it is pretty constant unless I really want to push myself. As a result I can get pretty similar averages over differing loops.

When riding my turbo indoors I have different training plans, so work on cadence and others heart rate. Both work well as the conditions are constant.